EXETER – The Bow boys’ hockey team knew that knocking off their rivals would take hard work and senior Doug Champagne was equal to the task.

Champagne poked home a goal after a lengthy scrum in front of the net 6:58 into the second period Wednesday for the game-winning goal, sending the Falcons to the Division II championship game for the second year in a row with a 2-0 win over Windham.

“It was definitely a battle,” Champagne said. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy.”

Bow will play top-ranked and unbeaten Keene (18-0) in Saturday’s title game at SNHU Arena.

The second-seeded Falcons (17-2-1) were plenty familiar with the third-ranked Jaguars (13-6-1) entering Wednesday’s semifinal. Windham was responsible for Bow’s exit from the D-II playoffs each of the last two seasons, including last year’s 5-3 defeat in the championship game. The teams also faced each other twice during the regular season, with the Falcons taking the first meeting, 2-1, on Jan. 25 before skating to a 0-0 tie three days later.

“We’ve always had a rivalry with them,” Champagne said. “There’s no better motivation than that. We had to beat them.”

His coach agreed.

“This is exactly what we thought it would be,” Bow Coach Tim Walsh said. “Every time we’ve played Windham it’s been a one-goal game. Tight, close checking, that kind of stuff.”

“Our D played really well tonight,” Walsh added. “Brandon Tibbetts played his best game. He just moved to defense this year and that’s the best game he’s ever played. He was a force. (Defensemen) Brendan Ulrich and Colin Tracy played their typical game. Solid. Steady. ... We focused on just going up the glass, not making any fancy plays. The kids really bought into what we were telling them. They have all year long, but tonight they took it to a whole new level.”

Outstanding defensive play and strong forechecking in the neutral zone gave plenty of support to sophomore netminder Nate Carrier (16 saves) who earned his second shutout against the Jaguars – he’s allowed just one goal in three meetings against Bow’s rival this season.

“(The defense) is great at keeping (Windham) outside,” Carrier said. “Whenever they shoot from the outside they’re easy saves. They’re good at controlling the rebounds clearing them out front.”

The shot totals were slightly in Windham’s favor (13-12) heading into the third period but the Falcons dominated the third, outshooting the Jaguars, 12-3, while not allow a single shot to reach Carrier in the second half of the period.

The Falcons had a slow start with Windham keeping possession of the puck in Bow’s end for the majority of the first four minutes of the game, forcing Carrier to make several saves early on. The Falcons caught an early break when Windham’s Nolan Cunningham fired a shot off the post.

A hit on Bow’s Dom Biron drew a penalty at 3:57, finally giving the Falcons a crack at the Jaguars’ goal. Bow fired three shots on goal during the power play, but the Falcons still relied on Ulrich and Tracy to break up several odd-man rushes and block several shots to keep it scoreless at the end of the first.

“We came out a little bit tentative,” Walsh said. “We played afraid of making a mistake instead of playing free and aggressive. We made a couple of adjustments in our neutral zone forecheck after the first period and from that moment on the game changed.”

The teams traded counterattacks to start the second period until the Falcons had their first sustained possession in Windham’s end at even strength.

Champagne took the puck behind Windham’s net and sent a pass to senior forward Chris Mead at the top of the crease. Mead fired a wrist shot into Jaguar goalie Max Daly (22 saves) who made the first save, but couldn’t control the rebound. Mead took another shot that Daly saved and the puck slid over to Champagne. Champagne took a couple whacks at the puck with defenders surrounding him before it finally crossed the line

“We absolutely had to work for everything we got,” Champagne said.

Bow’s lead nearly doubled when a shot from Champagne just inside the blue line hit the post in the closing moments of the second period.

Windham never had any serious scoring chances while Bow’s line of Austin Beaudette, Alex Killion and Ryan Tobeler peppered Daly with shots, but didn’t find the back of the net again until Killion scored an empty-net goal with 32.1 seconds left.

Things won’t get any easier for the Falcons in Saturday’s championship, especially against an undefeated Keene team playing in its first-ever hockey championship. The Blackbirds dealt the Falcons both of their losses this season.

“Saturday is going to be even harder,” Champagne said. We’re going to have to use each other, but we know we can win this game.”